Support Worker Casual Lancaster, Driver Desirable

Being a Support Worker at AFG is a hugely rewarding role and could be your first step on a long and happy career in Health & Social Care.

**So, what does a Support Worker do?**

We have a vision to create _a world where people control their lives. _Here at AFG, we pride ourselves on helping the people we support to design, develop and ‘own’ the support they receive by planning this with them; we support people to make informed choices and increase their own independence; and we support people to maintain their own health, wellbeing and living environment. These principles are really important to us.

Our Support Workers work in a variety of settings including community-based services (often supporting people in their own homes) to our Treatment & Recovery Centres.

One thing that is common across all of our services is a focus on personalised support and tailoring our services to the needs and aspirations of the people we support with a diverse range of care needs (including Learning Disabilities, Physical Disabilities, Mental Health Concerns, Complex Care, Substance Misuse issues to name a few).

**We value the people that work with us**

At AFG we recognise the contribution and value that our staff make. We would not be able to provide the life changing support that we do without people like you In return for your contribution we will support you throughout your career and we provide a wide range of employee benefits, career development (including opportunities to undertake vocational qualifications) and lifestyle support services to ensure that you too feel supported, fulfilled and valued from day one of your employment with us.

**About you**

There are a few things that we look for in all of our support workers; we would need you to
- be a good communicator (verbally and in writing)
- be patient, confident and enthusiastic about caring for others
- be able to use your own initiative
- be able to work as part of a team
- have flexibility to work a varied shift pattern to provide 24-hour support
- share our AFG values

We don’t ask for any other relevant training or a previous career in care as full training will be provided - you just need a willingness to learn and develop.

Your pay_ - _our Support Workers receive a rate of £11.00 per hour for all worked hours. Once you are successful for a role with us, full details of your pay will be included in your written offer.

As a ‘values based’ employer, the people that work for us genuinely care about the people they support, and we are seeking likeminded people to join our AFG family. If you are passionate about caring for others and have a real desire to make a positive difference to the lives of the people we support then we would love to hear from you.

**More about this vacancy...**
We asked the Team Leader to tell us more about this role and the amazing person that we need to work here.
- Where is this vacancy based?_
This vacancy is based in Lancaster
- Who do you support?_
We support 3 males who have a learning disability, which will require some personal care. One of the gentlemen has mental health needs who needs a lot of encouragement to partake in activities. You would be required to undertake some additional training needs, due to the use of de-escalation techniques.
- What would a typical shift be like?_
The people we support require support with finances. Both gentlemen require support when attending activities, to enable them to build their social skills. Due to one gentleman having learning disabilities, he needs support with health and hygiene needs, such as shaving and washing. Both gentlemen require support with medication management. They also need support with household chores.
- What activities do the people that we support at this property like to do?_
The people we support both like to partake in similar activities each week and are quite active. The 2 gentlemen enjoy, cycling at an indoor disability group, going to the gym, cinema, music groups and attending football matches at their local football ground. They each have their own bedrooms and bathrooms. They have lived together for over a year now, and they get along great.

It would be desirable to hold a current driver licence, but not essential. The people we support would like someone to encourage them with daily choices, to enable them to be as independent as possible and to be proactive in their approach to be able to support them to achieve their goals.
- What is the team here or is it lone-working?_
You will be joining a friendly, experienced staff team.
- What are your shift patterns?_
We are looking for somebody who is flexible to work shifts which may include days, sleep in and weekends. The usual shift patterns are 10:00-22:00 sleep 07:00-10:00am, day shifts are 09:00-18:00 You will be lone working from 18:00pm each day. During the day you will be working with another staff member, each supporting on a 1:1 basis.
- Please note our Support Workers are cont